CI engines require injection of fuel into the cylinders during the compression stroke of each piston. The fuel is ignited when sufficient compression and temperature are achieved. Hence, the timing of fuel injection or injections into the cylinders is obviously an important parameter in engine performance and fuel efficiency.
In the prior art, fuel injection calibrations typically are performed on a dynamometer at the completion of engine assembly and are fixed in the memory of an associated Engine Control Module (ECM). The timing calibrations take into account at least engine speed, temperature, and throttle position.
With prolonged use, an engine may undergo changes in the engine itself, or in fuel properties, such that the programmed fuel injection calibrations are no longer optimum. In prior art engines, no means is provided for adjusting the calibrations to re-optimize fuel injection timing for each cylinder through the operating life of the engine.
What is needed in the art is a method for continuously re-optimizing the fuel injection timing for each cylinder in a CI engine to provide maximum torque for the amount of fuel injected.
It is a principal object of the present invention to continuously maximize the output torque of a CI engine.